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I got them!

14 replies

thecatneuterer · 26/03/2019 01:43

I just wanted an outlet for the euphoria I'm feeling for having finally managed to trap two cats that have eluded me for far too long.

This was a job I started a year ago, where cats had been breeding in a back garden. The problem with jobs in back gardens (as opposed to say in communal gardens of flats, or back alleys, or car parks or industrial estates) is that you need to get the home owners on board and they need to be able to put up with your presence in their house, often for many hours on end.

Anyway last year I managed to trap I think it was 9 adults and I took away around 12 kittens, but one kitten and one female just proved impossible. I think I must have put around 60 hours into just trying to get those two, but failed. Often I would just spend hours (in someone's kitchen) just waiting for them to turn up, and they didn't, or they turned up but wouldn't go in the trap, or one time they both went in the trap but then another one stood on the door so I couldn't close it, and they then both left again.

Added to that the fact that the home owner never answered his phone, or replied to messages, so that arranging to go there was next to impossible, plus he couldn't grasp the need to always put the food in the dummy trap I gave him to get them used to going in it, and it made for a very frustrating job.

It's been one of those jobs that literally has kept me awake at 3 in the morning. It's been at the back (and often at the front) of my mind for months, bugging and worrying me. After all if just one female is left unneutered you may as well not have bothered at all.

There have been dozens of other jobs in between, but this one has never stopped playing on my mind.

Anyway, finally, I just got them both. And both were a bit pregnant but I got them in time. Yay!!!!!

OP posts:
DramaAlpaca · 26/03/2019 01:46

Well done TCN!

SneakyGremlins · 26/03/2019 01:57

Oooooh well done! Go you Smile

thecatneuterer · 26/03/2019 01:58

Thanks DramaAlpaca. The problem is this feeling doesn't last long. A few days maybe, then my mind shoves it to the back and starts to dwell on the next problematic case/s. I believe this is a recognised psychological response - it's bloody annoying.

OP posts:
Allergictoironing · 26/03/2019 07:25

Make the most of that feeling while it lasts, the highs help you recover a bit from the lows.

Really pleased for you that you managed to finish off that colony, must be a great sense of achievement and of course so much better for the cats. Will these be TNR or rehomed?

YesItsMeIDontCare · 26/03/2019 07:29

Awww, well done - give them a skoosh from me and a nose boop from Leroy.

Is it a neuter and release job or d'you think they'll be able to be homed?

Hamsterian · 26/03/2019 08:06

Well done, I'm so pleased with you! (And the cats!)

Vinorosso74 · 26/03/2019 09:28

Well done on persevering! Hope the next ones are easier to trap.

viccat · 26/03/2019 09:36

Well done! Many kittens saved from a miserable life born outdoors.

Out of curiosity, do you use drop traps at all for trap-shy cats? We are looking into getting one at the charity where I am after seeing so many American TNR groups use them with great results for colonies and generally tricky cats.

HuggedTheRedwoods · 26/03/2019 10:00

Well done, what an amazing thing you do. How frustrating that the home owner wasn't completely onboard, surely it would have been better for him to help the cats be caught sooner too. Enjoy your well deserved good feeling. Flowers

YetAnotherSpartacus · 26/03/2019 10:25

Well done! Jailbird kitties!

thecatneuterer · 26/03/2019 12:13

Thanks for the nice messages. YesitsmeIdontcare they are neuter/returns. The kittens from last year were tamed and homed, but the adults are properly feral. And I won't be doing any skooshing - not if I value my hands/arms/face :)

viccat: that's interesting. I've just watched a video on a drop trap operation. It's worth investigating. It would have to be very heavy. I'm amazed at the strength a frightened feral cat has. One even managed to push open the bars of a trap and squeeze out the gap in the fraction of a second it took me to reach the trap. I tried to do it myself and wasn't strong enough. And if it's that heavy then it's a worry that it might hit one on the head. And the ground would need to be perfectly level. And I wouldn't want to use one in the middle of a large colony as that would scare the others away more than a conventional manual trap. However there are certainly situations where it just be just what we need.

OP posts:
RonniePasas · 26/03/2019 19:11

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

thecatneuterer · 26/03/2019 19:16

Ronnie - no I've never written about this colony before, but this is par for the course really so lots of the jobs I do sound similar.

OP posts:
RonniePasas · 26/03/2019 20:32

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

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